ICO Marketing Strategy

ICOs are becoming a popular way to raise funds for new businesses in the fintech industry. In 2017, over $5.6 billion were raised in capital through ICOs with more than 400 successful projects that reached their targets.

The ICO method of raising funds was first popularized by Ethereum in 2014 when the project was able to raise more than $11 million in its presale. Successful cryptocurrencies that launched later include Ripple, Stellar and Dash. These coins were able to do similarly well by raising even higher investments during presale and ICOs.

We can learn a lot about running a successful ICO marketing strategy by looking at the examples of ICO platforms that did well historically. We can also learn from the examples of projects that failed about what not to do when trying to launch an ICO.

What Makes a Good Strategy

An ICO, much like an IPO requires a lot of marketing. Most companies looking to raise funds through the public are well established in their domains. The company’s history of operations, management experience and profitability expectations form the basis of the marketing effort. These must be clearly communicated to the general public.

It is also important to communicate company goals to potential investors. Everyone can understand that your company is looking to make profits. That is the purpose of a business. But what exactly is the business trying to achieve in the market over a period of time? What is its long-term vision and objectives?

Once you have identified the company goals, its competitive advantage and technological expertise, the next step is to identify the medium of communicating your message to investors.

Three Methods of Promoting an ICO

Three methods are very effective in getting your message across.

The first method is to use social media platforms. This is where the majority of people interested in ICOs are present and you can have no better avenue than social media to promote your ICO project.

The second method is to create a blog and a website with great content. A website acts as your digital address. It can help create a lot of trust and authenticity for your ICO. It also allows potential investors to get directly in touch with your company to find out more about your business idea.

The third and a highly effective method is to use webinars. Webinars are one of the best methods of introducing your ideas and vision to investors, short of an actual, live presentation.

Relying On Other Mediums of Support

Most successful ICOs have had more than a few experienced promoters behind them. A new fintech company may find it very difficult to build a core group of supporters behind their tokens if they don’t have many reputable people supporting it.

Multiple promoters will bring different talents to the project. A technical expert will be better at handling specific questions on platform design while the financial expert would be able to explain the competitive advantage offered by the new platform.

One of the best ways to get everyone talking about an ICO is to get the news media involved. A targeted story or interview with a reputable media outlet will significantly help the ICO. While it may seem like an expensive endeavor, the boost in popularity and public interest could be well worth the price.

Smart entrepreneurs may not even have to pay anyone to get the media take notice of their ICO. Once a reputable crypto media outlet runs a story on an upcoming ICO, other news websites will be contacting the founders to do an interview for them.